[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 13 (Monday, January 28, 2008)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E77]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   IN MEMORY OF MABEL CLAIRE MADDREY

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. BOB ETHERIDGE

                           of north carolina

                    in the house of representatives

                        Monday, January 28, 2008

  Mr. ETHERIDGE. Madam Speaker, today I rise to honor the life of Mabel 
Claire Maddrey, who passed away on Monday, January 14, 2008, at the 
tender age of 100. In her passing, North Carolina lost a heroine and a 
woman who was instrumental in her community, county, and State.
  A native of Ahoskie, NC, Mabel was born on April 27, 1907, the 
daughter of Charlie C. Hoggard and Tulie E. Hoggard. She graduated from 
Meredith College in 1928 and from Columbia University with a masters 
degree in History in 1929. In 1931, she married Charles Gordon Maddrey. 
She remained active at Meredith College her entire life and was named a 
trustee emerita and was a recipient of Outstanding Alumna Award. She 
was the first chairperson of Meredith College Heritage Society--Planned 
Giving-- and established the Mabel Claire Maddrey Scholarship Fund. She 
was very proud of being instrumental in the planning, design and fund-
raising of Jones Chapel, dedicated in 1982. Meredith College honored 
her by dedicating the Mabel Claire Maddrey Parlor in the Alumnae House.
  She was past president of the North Carolina Baptist Women's 
Missionary Union and in the 1950s was the first woman to be elected 
nationwide to the Southern Baptist Convention Board. She was a gifted 
speaker and spoke in numerous Baptist churches throughout North 
Carolina. She served as a deaconess in both First Baptist Church of 
Ahoskie and First Baptist Church of Raleigh. In July 1998, she was 
featured on the front page of the New York Times in front of First 
Baptist Church, Raleigh, in an article about Baptist churches 
withdrawing from the Southern Baptist Convention because of its 
positions on women and their role in the Baptist Church.
  She was active in the N.C. Federation of Women's Clubs for over 60 
years and served as State president and as a past president of the 
Raleigh Woman's Club. A parlor in the Raleigh Woman's Club building is 
named in her honor. Politically, she has been chairperson for North 
Carolina women for a major gubernatorial candidate, chairperson for 
North Carolina women for a major Presidential candidate and past 
president of the Democratic Women of Wake County. In the late 1960s, 
she initiated the highly popular annual Jefferson-Jackson Day 
breakfast, hosted by Democrats of Wake County, which is held annually. 
She was a past president and member of the Sir Walter Cabinet for over 
50 years. She was a past member of the North Carolina Economic 
Development Board and a director of the North Carolina Museum of 
Natural History. Mrs. Maddrey was the recipient of the Governor's Award 
for Distinguished Service, inductee in Raleigh's YWCA Academy of Women 
and North Carolina Council for Women Distinguished Women Award. She has 
been featured as a News & Observer Tar Heel of the Week.

  On the occasion of her 90th birthday, Governor James B. Hunt, Jr., 
proclaimed that day Mabel Claire Maddrey Appreciation Day and the 
proclamation stated in part, ``Mabel Claire Maddrey embodies the spirit 
of public service and neighbor helping neighbor, inspiring the best in 
others, and Whereas Mabel Claire Maddrey personifies dignity, grace and 
perfection in all her endeavors and Whereas Mabel Claire Maddrey 
continues to serve the people of North Carolina and cares deeply about 
the community and the State.'' Mabel was preceded in death by her 
husband, Charles Gordon Maddrey. She is survived by her children, 
Charles H. Maddrey and wife, Rose Maddrey, Joseph G. Maddrey and wife, 
Elizabeth Maddrey; and 4 grandchildren, Charles Gordon Maddrey II, 
Gregory Hoggard Maddrey, Claire Webb Maddrey and Joseph Huntley 
Maddrey.
  Madam Speaker, Mabel Claire Maddrey had a commitment to excellence in 
everything she did, and she had a way of bringing out excellence in 
everyone around her. Mabel was a respected and a successful dedicated 
public servant, and a great North Carolinian. It is fitting that we 
honor her and her family today.

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